Day 32-

So my skin is still the same. I don't think it looks worse or better. I haven't got any cysts on my chin in awhile though..yay!! So that's a positive.. But I still get a new spot or two everyday. My birthday is next friday so I'm hoping my face looks half way decent so that I can go out.

I've been using vaseline on my face every night like my doctor suggested and that has definitely helped with the dryness and peeling..now my makeup doesn't flake off!

I'm still getting the dry patches on my left arm and I noticed this morning that it seems to be on my upper right arm as well. I guess the vaseline hasn't been helping. Anyone know of any good lotion for this?? Anyway, still no mood swings or depression and still haven't had anymore nightmares. Everything seems to be going in the right direction!!

hi question did you get dark spots on your cheeks ? and if so do they seem to be disappearing i got some dark spot they look like burns not even my make up covers them up help does anyone know of anything i can take or use to help with these my derm doc says its the scaring but i didnt have it before sucks =( i have no acne or cystic acne but just dry skin and dark spots plus i feel so tired other than that am good please let me know if you guys have any ideas for dark spots thank you !!!

Hi!

I wouldn't say dark marks..just red spots on my upper right cheek. I have no idea how to make them go away..I've just been patiently waiting!! Let me know if anything works for you!

Cerave cream the one in the jar, not the lotion, is good for dry patches on arms and legs. Also Dove deep moisture body soap. My son started to get patches or rash on knuckles , back or hand and arms from the accutane. Now no more.

Hey Courtney!

Glad to hear your course is going okay so far. I've found luck w/ Curel healing lotion (comes in the big pump bottles usually) works well for dry/red patches (I had some on my hands in the past with accutane). I just started another round and I'm currently on day 22, right in the thick of one of the most miserable breakouts of my life. Here's hoping that we both clear up for good!!

Thanks, I'll look into the cerave and curel!

Erb27- Second round huh? The first time didn't work? That's my biggest fear!! I hope this works for you!!

Thanks a lot for the support!

It's unfortunately my 3rd time...the first couple were in high school (which worked wonders, really)...but its been ~7 years since my last dose and they're thinking that I might be able to knock it out with one more course now that I'm beyond my growth stages I guess..who knows! I've been on antibiotics for far too long so I finally made the switch to tane after months and months of denying the derms

Hopefully this knocks it out for the both of us!!

Day 42-

Wow! I can't believe how fast this is going.. I feel like I just started yesterday!!

Well so far so good. My skin seems to be looking better and better. I still get spots here and there but they're a lot smaller now. Haven't had any painful cysts in weeks now!! I'm expecting my period in the next few days and I only suffered a MINOR breakout. Nothing like usual! And people have been telling me my skin is glowing..haven't heard anything like that in years! Such a great feeling!

The only negative thing I can say right now is that I'm constipated!! I heard it was a side effect and I was hoping it wouldn't happen to me but sure enough it is! Anyone else experience that? Suggestions? I've been trying prune juice the last couple days and it only seems to be slightly helping. Other than that nothing bad to report!

I hope everyone else is experiencing positive results as well!!

Day 48- (I think)

My lips are SO dry. I use aquaphor multiple times a day, but a few days ago my lips cracked SO BAD and now they just look raw. Not sure what to do about this other than to just keep using aquaphor and wait patiently!

My skin hasn't been too dry. Any dryness is usually just around my chin.. I'll say this every time..the vaseline every night helps tremendously! My skin seems to be a lot better. Less redness and way less breakouts. I have a really painful bump near my eyebrow.. ( not sure if it's a pimple or ingrown hair?) I've recently started noticing how dry my hair is.. I could go DAYS without washing it. And my body is really dry too..still dealing with the eczema..on both arms.

Oh and the constipation issue was resolved with the prune juice..yay!

I go to my doctor next Tuesday, so I'll update again after my appointment. Hopefully she can determine how long I need to be on this!

Good luck everybody!!

Day 55-

Well, I went to the doctor yesterday and she just kept telling me that by week 12 I'll be extremely happy with the results..so by my next appointment. She could defiantly tell that I'm discouraged lately. I'm still breaking out and it's frustrating. I guess I was hoping to be pretty clear by now. I have good days and then bad days (today is a bad day) I guess I just need to be patient right?

I've been on Claravis the last two months and when my doctor went to fill my prescription she was told it's on backorder, so she switched me to amnesteem. Has anyone switched brands midway thru? That switch has me on edge as well. I don't want to have an IB all over again.

Other than that.. my dryness is under control and I started using dove soap which is really helping the eczema.

I'll update in a few days after I start taking amnesteem.

Don't worry about the brand switch; the active ingredient is the same (isotretinoin).

I find the best way for me to stay patient and positive during a breakout is to resist coming to boards like this. I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but I think when you're reading a bunch of accutane logs, you stumble over people who are getting over the IB way sooner than you (or barely have an IB), and then you start stressing about that.

Day 58-

Just a quick update...

I had such a difficult time getting my prescription this week. Like I mentioned in my last update my doctor was switching me to amnesteem..well the pharmacy didn't have that in stock and was suppose to order it..so after a few days of waiting I called to find out the pharmacist contacted my doctor and switched me back to claravis.(???) instead of 30mg twice a day I'm now taking 20mg three times a day. It took me 5 days to get it because there was issue after issue after issue..thank God I finally have it now though! Hopefully I can go back to 30mg twice a day next month cause it's $15 cheaper!! Is anyone else paying a fortune for this stuff every month? It's starting to get irritating. Half way there! Woohoo.

Thanks Pleogsk! I'm constantly on here reading different blogs..it gives me hope for the future!!

Half way there? Awesome! I hope your IB is starting to fade away. Have the breakouts started to be less frequent recently?? Stay strong and know that these breakouts will go away soon!!I'm almost @ month 2 and I'm trying to tell myself the same thing.

Day 65-

Hi erb27!

Unfortunately my skin looks worse than it has in awhile. The right side of my face has about 12 spots...some just fading red spots and others are pimples. It's very hard to cover it all with makeup, so once again I'm self-conscious going out in public. The left side is almost 100% clear. My skin has such gotten worse within the past week and I'm not sure why? I'm hoping by the time I see my doctor next month it'll look better. I also had the eczema under control and now it seems to be flaring up all of a sudden again. This coming week starts week 10 so I'm trying to stay positive! How is your skin by the way? Hope it goes well for you!!

Day 87-

Wow I haven't updated in awhile!! So sorry!

Well, my skin is getting a lot better. EVERYONE keeps telling me how great it looks. I still get breakouts but a lot less than before and they go away almost instantly. And I have the dryness under control.. finally! I went to my doctor last week and she said I should be seeing nothing but positive results from now on since tomorrow hits 13 weeks! I guess it did take me about 12 weeks to start noticing real results.. So anyone getting frustrated I promise it does get better!!

I'll try to get back to updating more frequently!!

Day 117-

Once again I haven't updated in sooo long!! So sorry!

I went to the dermatologist yesterday and she seems happy with my results so far, but wanted to up my dosage. So now I'm taking 80mg daily instead of 60mg. I still get a lot of breakouts on my jaw line (hormonal acne) so she put me on spironolactone 100mg daily. She told me that the accutane wont help the hormonal acne so hopefully this helps! I've been on it before and I'm not really sure if it helped in the past. Anyone else taking spironolactone and accutane??

I promise to update after starting the 80mg. See if I get any new side effects from a higher dosage!

Day 138-

Well, it's been about 3 weeks since starting 80Mg and I don't see much of a difference. I'm surprisingly not anymore dry than I was on 60Mg (the petroleum jelly helps a ton though) and no mood changes. The spironolactone has helped the hormonal acne tremendously! I only get an occasional pimple on my jaw line..nothing like before! I still get a new pimple on my cheek every few days but once again nothing like before. No more deep painful cysts! I'm anxious to see what my doctor says next week. Maybe only one more month? That'd be amazing! I'll update again after my appointment!

Day 147-

I'm done with accutane!

I saw my doctor on Thursday and she said there's no point to keep me on it any longer because I'm pretty much 100% clear ..except for an occasional bump. I'm so glad I decided to do this and would recommend it to anyone!!

I'll update again in a few Weeks..hopefully I stay clear!!

Thanks a lot for updating! It really helped me know how the accutane is coming out in the process of treating acne. So glad you are done! Hopefully that acne won't come back